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Monday, January 24, 2011

At least 3,000 activists of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its youth wing are reported to have entered Jammu as part of the plan to hoist the national flag at Srinagar's Lal Chowk on Republic Day.

The activists are reported to have entered Jammu posing as Vaishno Devi pilgrims.

But the Jammu and Kashmir government has made it clear that the flag-hoisting at Lal Chowk will not be allowed under any circumstance. The state government said on Monday that the Clock Tower at Lal Chowk shall remain inaccessible on January 26.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has already met Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on the issue and expressed the hope that the BJP won't do anything that "precipitates the situation" in the Kashmir Valley.

But the BJP is adamant. The party dismissed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's call for restraint and vowed to unfurl the national flag at Lal Chowk.

"Every citizen in this country has the right to hold and hoist the national flag. It is unconstitutional to prevent this," BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu said on Sunday.